Myocardial infarction is death of cardiac myocytes (necrosis) caused by prolonged ischemia. The term acute "usually" refers to the time 6 hours to 7 days following pathologic appearance of the infarct.
The patient may experience ischemic-type chest discomfort with accompanying symptoms of nausea, vomiting, dyspnea, diaphoresis, lightheadedness, dizziness, syncope, fatigue and weakness.
Rapid diagnosis and risk stratification of chest pain patients is important to identify acute myocardial infarction patients who will benefit from reperfusion therapy.
Ideally, patient diagnosed with myocardial infarction should begin treatment within 30 minutes of arrival to hospital.

Discontinuation of aspirin may have detrimental consequences for long-term users, with a recent study reporting that cessation of use in the absence of major surgery or bleeding increases the risk of cardiovascular events.

Red yeast rice extracts have been used in traditional medicine for centuries.1 In recent times, an extract from red yeast rice, Xuezhikang® (XZK), has been studied for its role in dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular disease. This review will look at some of the clinical trials that have done so.